For many of us, especially in the west, meat is seen as a key part of dinner, if not lunch and breakfast as well. Here in the UK, “meat and two veg” is still some folk’s conception of a proper meal. Vegetarian options are seen as a boring alternative. Particularly amongst some men, not eating meat can seem dismayingly girly. Others raise worries about lack of protein, vitamins and iron.

Of course, much of this is nonsense. All the nutrients in meat are available from other sources – and there are plenty of tasty vegetarian dishes that’ll make you glad you went for something meat-free.

You might wonder why eating meat affects the environment – and you may also have questions about the personal benefits of cutting down your meat consumption. I’m going to address those in this post.